As the Big Ten Player of the Year race heats up, the Michigan men’s basketball team will be tasked with keeping one of the frontrunners in check on Thursday night.
With a visit to Iowa on tap, Hawkeye wing Keegan Murray is at the top of the Wolverines’ scouting report. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound sophomore has exploded this season as his scoring average has increased from 7.2 points to 23.3. He’s shooting 57% from the field and 75% from the free throw line while grabbing 8.4 rebounds per game. Murray has also emerged as an active defender, averaging two blocks and 1.4 steals.
In the lone meeting between Michigan and Iowa last season, Murray scored just seven points. This time around, the Wolverines are bracing for a much-improved version.
“First, you start with confidence. His confidence level has definitely risen from last season,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said Wednesday. “He’s also gotten a lot (more) comfortable now that guys like Wieskamp, Garza (are gone) — those two guys were particularly the two that provided the majority of the scoring for their team. With Keegan, you’ve seen it last season that he has the tools offensively, understanding how to play the game, never was one of the guys I saw that tried to go outside of the offense to try to get his numbers.”
For Michigan, it doesn’t help that Murray is set to enter Thursday’s matchup as one of the conference’s hottest shooters. In Murray’s last three games, he’s averaging 30.3 points on 68% shooting, including a 7-for-11 clip from beyond the arc. He’s emerged as one of the nation’s premier scorers, and at 6-foot-8, it’s difficult to find a natural defensive matchup for such a dangerous three-level offensive weapon.
Over the home stretch of the regular season, the Wolverines will have to find a way to limit Murray not once, but twice. Michigan faces the Hawkeyes Thursday night on the road and then just two weeks later in Ann Arbor. As Murray pops up on the Wolverines’ schedule twice, his evolution over the past two seasons has Howard’s attention.
“This year, a lot of the offensive load is on his shoulders,” Howard said. “And he’s accepted that responsibility by putting in the work from the experience he received last year getting playing time and now over the summer time, with all the player development I’m sure he’s probably been involved in within the program, you can see that in games, he just looks so comfortable out there. He’s been able to score on the outside as well as on the inside. And then give him credit, he’s comfortable putting the ball on the floor creating his own shot.”
That much was clear in Iowa’s last two games. The Hawkeyes torched Maryland to the tune of 110 points and then poured 98 on Nebraska last week, and Murray served as the offensive focal point in both outings. He scored 30 against the Terrapins and then a career-high 37 in the win over the Cornhuskers while shooting a combined 27-of-35 from the floor.
Murray’s video game-like numbers are flashy, but the Wolverines are more concerned about how it opens up Iowa’s offense as a unit. The fact that Murray commands so much attention often creates opportunities for other players and allows the Hawkeyes to succeed in transition. According to KenPom, Iowa ranks No. 4 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, top 50 in adjusted tempo and No. 5 nationally in shortest average possession length.
“We talk about the emphasis on getting back in transition, not taking any possessions off — whether it’s a make or miss — we have to be sprinting and talking and try to make sure we get matched up,” Howard said. “Sometimes you’re going to be cross-matched, but it’s important we get a guy matched up on one of their players because they will make you pay if you don’t.”
But if the Wolverines can prevent Murray from making them pay on Thursday night, they’ll be in a much better position to steal a win in Iowa City.
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